HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: West Perry runs past Waynesboro

West Perry scored all the points it needed in the first half Friday night as the Mustangs rode the legs and arms of quarterback Zach Smith en route to a 35-7 Mid-Penn Colonial Division victory Friday night on Homecoming.

ELLIOTTSBURG — West Perry scored all the points it needed in the first half Friday night as the Mustangs rode the legs and arms of quarterback Zach Smith en route to a 35-7 Mid-Penn Colonial Division victory Friday night on Homecoming.

The win, coupled with Shippensburg’s 14-7 victory against Northern York, made things interesting at the top of the division. Both Northern and West Perry now have 4-1 records in the league, while Shippensburg owns a 5-0 mark in the division and has beaten both the Polar Bears and Mustangs.

For Waynesboro (2-6), it was another loss to a division team the Indians defeated last year. A week earlier, Northern upended Waynesboro. Last night, West Perry used a balanced attack to hand the Tribe its fourth straight loss.

The Mustangs (6-2) received plenty of assistance from the visiting Indians when they intercepted two passes in the first quarter that resulted in two touchdowns and a 14-0 lead.

Waynesboro received the opening kickoff and were given a boost when Ben Petrie returned the kickoff 27 yards out to the 37 yard line. The Mustangs showed the Indians their defensive playbook early, lining up with six players on the line of scrimmage, including both outside linebackers manning the outside of the line of scrimmage in anticipation of the run game. The alignment caused problems for Waynesboro right away as running back Johnnie Adgers picked up just two yards on first down and was tackled for a five-yard loss on second down and put the Indians in an obvious passing situation on third-and-13.

West Perry put pressure on quarterback Connor Fetterhoff, who threw off balance and into the arms of free safety Keeghan Morrision at the Waynesboro 32 yard line. On the next play, Smith gained 26 yards on a keeper. Two plays later, Smith followed his blockers into the end zone for the touchdown and Ryan McMillen kicked the first of five extra points for a 7-0 lead.

“It’s exactly what we practiced all week long,” said Shacreaw of the Polar Bears’ 4-4 defense in which the outside linebackers walked up to the line of scrimmage and gave the appearance of a six-man front.

“The heart and soul of this problem lies in the fact that we have 27 kids dressing for practices. We have a hard time filling our own JV team. Until those numbers get better, it’s going to be a struggle.”

Waynesboro pulled out all the stops on offense to get something going, even using its own version of the wildcat formation with Adgers playing quarterback and Brett Mohn in the backfield at running back.

Also, Nathan Toney saw his most extensive playing time at quarterback this season as he replaced Fetterhoff after the Indians’ second possession and played the rest of the game. Toney finished the game with seven completions in 15 attempts for 84 yards.

Page 2 of 3 - On the Tribe’s second possession, lightning struck twice. After a two-yard gain by Adgers on first down, Fetterhoff faded back to pass and was chased by several defenders. He threw an ill-advised pass and West Perry’s Hunter Lesher jumped high and came down with the ball at the Waynesboro 24.

Smith carried the ball on both plays of a 24-yard scoring drive, including an 18-yard touchdown run that occurred just 1:46 after the opening score to give the Mustangs a 14-0 lead.

The Indians earned their initial first down of the game when Fetterhoff threw to Adgers over the middle for a 9-yard gain out to the 44 yard line. Following a five-yard loss on first down, Fetterhoff passed to Petrie on the right sideline for a 10-yard gain to the 49, but the Mustangs sacked Fetterhoff for a 13-yard loss on second down and Waynesboro punted back to West Perry.

The Mustangs failed to convert a field goal on the drive but got the ball back again in good field position on a blocked punt. this time, it took four plays to cover 22 yards as Smith took it in from seven yards for a 21-0 lead after McMillen’s extra point.

Adgers highlighted the Indians ensuing possession when he broke loose for a 25-yard gain to move the ball into West Perry’s end of the field for the first time in the game. A short pass from Toney to Ryan Heinrich was followed by a 10-yard loss and an incomplete pass.

Waynesboro punted but got the ball back when Galen McDonald stepped in front of a pass and intercepted it along the left sideline in the final minute of the second quarter. Toney connected with Dylan Gaylor for a 13-yard catch and run to midfield. Following an incomplete pass, Toney threw an 18-yard pass to McDonald at the 32 but time ran out in the first half.

The Mustangs scored on their first possession of the second half with Smith scoring his third rushing TD of the game. He added a fourth rushing touchdown after West Perry forced Waynesboro to punt on its first second-half possession to increase the lead to 35-0.

Smith finished the game with 91 yards on the ground and was 6 for 10 for 123 yards and a touchdown through the air.

The Indians hit paydirt with 4:45 left in the game when Adgers capped a 7-play, 73-yard drive with a 19-yard TD run. Jesse Smith kicked the extra point.

During the scoring drive, Adgers carried the ball five times for 37 yards and Toney tossed a 21-yard pass to Nathan Eisenhauer. The Indians were also aided by a pass interference penalty against the Mustangs.

“Nathan did a pretty good job, but we just have a lot of work to do,” Shacreaw said. “We’re not any where near where we need to be. It’s ashame. We worked hard all offseason.

Page 3 of 3 - “The bottom line is we didn’t have what we needed to have in a blocking perspective this week, so it wasn’t anything we didn’t expect. We just didn’t have it tonight.”